


Silvertongue

by Applesaday



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Essentially a what-if Inkheart and OUAT had been spliced together, F/F, and snarky chapter titles and subheadings, except with quite a few creative liberties
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-06
Updated: 2018-09-06
Packaged: 2019-07-01 19:02:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 15,744
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15780180
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Applesaday/pseuds/Applesaday
Summary: Inkheart AU. Unbeknownst to her, Emma Swan has an unique gift, a gift of making the words she reads out loud come to life. One night, something goes wrong as she's reading fairytales to her son. She ends up bringing two characters to life, Red and Rumpelstiltskin, losing her wife, Regina, in the process. 8 years later, Rumpelstiltskin wants to go back home, and he'll do anything to do so.





	1. A new storyteller - because Henry demanded it

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Silvertongue [art]](https://archiveofourown.org/works/15746037) by [achromacat](https://archiveofourown.org/users/achromacat/pseuds/achromacat). 



> Alright! So this has been an idea that's been ruminating in my mind for quite a while, and I'm super happy to have it finally finished!
> 
> I'm really happy with how it turned out, plenty of things changed since I began to write it, but I feel like it's a better story now.
> 
> As always, italics are past tense, and at the end it's a letter.
> 
> And a big shout-out and thank you to everyone who helped to make this fic amazing, particularly my two betas starrrynighhts and hermione, and my cheerleader swen_queen!
> 
> Lastly, achromacat did an amazing artwork for this fic that I just love to pieces, so be sure to check it out in the link above!
> 
> And of course, a big shout-out to the SQSN mods for being absolutely amazing with their planning and making sure everything was running smoothly!
> 
> Just as an FYI, there will be a couple of deaths, nothing graphic nor any of the main-main characters, but just as a heads up.
> 
> Please enjoy!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And it was a terrible idea for all.

Emma remembered everything from that night.

The way the rain was softly hitting the window. The dimmed lights. How comfortable she was on the large black sofa. The way Regina smiled at her when little Henry begged her to please, please,  _ please _ tell him a story. How she finally caved, opening the enormous storybook as Henry crawled onto her lap. 

The little family was entranced as Emma began to read, listening as her voice wove an elaborate tale. 

She described a fantastical world full of complex characters, from dashing knights to conniving imps, and scores of side characters ranging from dragons to werewolves that helped build the story. Henry was quite the attentive listener, cheering when the knights defended their land, and gasped spectacularly when the story got exciting with a crucial battle.

Just as the action reached its peak, Henry had grown quiet, raptly absorbing each word of the fight.

Outside, the storm was growing stronger.

Then there was a flash of lightning, and the love of Emma’s life vanished.

Just like that.

Gone.

In her stead, sprawled on the carpet in front of Emma, there were two strangers. 

Henry’s screaming and crying began rousing the two strangers, and Emma tried to comfort her son, pulling him close, her mind whirling with unanswered questions. 

She wanted to be strong for Henry, but she was feeling so sick to her stomach that it proved to be an impossible feat.

What in the world was happening?

She took a deep breath. She just had to  _ stop _ for a moment and try to understand just what the  _ hell  _ was going on.

So she focused her attention on the two intruders, maybe they would shed some light on what was happening. But they offered no help to her.

The first to sit up was a man with long wild hair, sporting some weird dark green leather ensemble like he had just stepped out of a ren faire. 

Beside him, a woman with long brown locks wearing a very large deep red cape was clutching her head and wincing hard. 

They were both looking around in confusion. Then their eyes met in recognition, and their immediate hatred opened to chaos.

“You!” They chorused.

They scrambled up and moved into their own peculiar positions, the woman crouching low, and the man raising his arms and coiling his hands, staying that way for a few beats, as if expecting something to happen.

When nothing did, the man looked around in alarm, immediately rushing out the door and into the stormy night.

Once he was gone, the woman relaxed slightly. She turned to Emma and Henry, face unreadable, her curiosity the only thing keeping her from running away as well.

“Many apologies for intruding into your home. Can you tell me where I am?”

* * *

Six years. 

Six long years ago. She replayed that moment so many times she felt that if she tried hard enough, she could go back to that moment and imagine it ending differently. The problem was not being able to stay there.

“Mom!”

Emma jolted and nearly spilled coffee all over herself.

Henry, no longer a little tyke, now on the verge of becoming a teenager, rolled his eyes with a practised ease. “You’re worse than I am in the mornings.”

“Keep talking smack kid, and you’ll see what happens,” Emma scoffed, sipping from her mug. “And sorry, what were you saying?”

“I said that I might be coming home a bit later today, I have to work with Trevor on a project and we’re going to his house, if that’s okay.”

Emma nodded. “Yep, as long as there’s no booze, drugs, or girls-”

“Mom!” Henry groaned, scandalized.

“Or boys if that is your thing, then you can totally meet Trevor for his project,” Emma continued, flashing a triumphant grin.

Henry let out another groan, and slid off his chair to get ready for school. “You are the worst,” he commented as he walked out of the dining room.

“Says the kid who has the coolest mom ever!” she called back.

She got no response for it, but that didn’t bother her the least. She knew Henry loved her.

* * *

A few hours later, she was in her office working away. Technically she was still at home, but it was in an area of the house reserved for Emma’s work - a gift from Regina when she had bought them their house.

Emma felt a pang of sadness when she thought about her wife. 

As she did whenever her thoughts drifted to Regina, she began to twist the wedding ring on her finger. So many years and not even an inkling of an idea as to what had happened.

Well, there was an idea. An idea so ludicrous she had a really hard time believing it.

That night, after Emma had put Henry to sleep, telling him that Regina had had to leave for a meeting suddenly, and that she would be back soon, she had sat down with the woman who had materialized in her living room floor.

“I want answers. Starting with: Where is my wife, and how did you get here?” Emma demanded as she plopped down on the couch. The couch where, not even two hours ago, Regina had been lounging on.

The woman shook her head. “I do not know the answer to either of those questions.”

“Bullshit!” Emma seethed. The shock had worn off, and now she was angry, and she wanted answers. “I was reading to my kid, and suddenly, she’s gone, and in her place I find you and your accomplice.”

The woman shot up from her seat. “That imp is the farthest thing from my accomplice! For all I know he could be working for you!”

“Why the hell would I be working with him?” Emma retorted.

“How should I know?” the woman huffed. “But I repeat, I am in no way allied to him.”

Emma blinked. “Then who is he?”

“I said  _ what  _ he is: an imp! A most deplorable creature.”

“Seriously? That’s the best you can come up with?” Emma deadpanned. “He looks like a normal man. Maybe stark-raving mad, but not an imp. Don’t imps look all weird and disfigured?”

“I am not jesting! Neither should you take Rumpelstiltskin as lightly as you are,” the woman resolutely responded.

At hearing the name, Emma did a double take. “You said his name was Rumpelstiltskin?”

The woman nodded.

“You’re not lying?”

“I have no reason to lie to you.”

Emma’s mind was reeling. “And you are?”

“Red,” the woman said, pointing to her cloak. “If the cape wasn’t enough of an indicator.”

But Emma wasn’t paying attention to that. She grabbed the old book that had fallen in the commotion, and flipped the pages until she reached the one she had been reading.

“You were fighting him. You had caught him unaware, and you were on the verge of beating him, helping the good guys get their first victory in months,” Emma said, scanning the page.

Red looked puzzled as she nodded. “How do you know that?”

Emma turned the book towards Red. “Because that’s the book I was reading when all of this happened.”

Red immediately grabbed the book and began to pore over it, flipping the pages as she scanned the passages. “My life is in a book?”

Emma honestly had no response to that and she just opened and closed her mouth pointlessly.

Red looked up at her and her eyes narrowed. “What is the meaning of this?”

Sensing that Red was beginning to sound distrustful, Emma held her hands up placatingly. 

“Look, I have no idea about any of this. I was reading some stories to my kid, and then all of this happened,” Emma finished by waving her hands around the room, as if that explained everything.

But Red seemed satisfied with that answer, as she went back to the book. “I see.”

“You do?” Not that Emma wanted Red to be wary of her, but she wouldn’t be convinced by her own story, she had a hard time believing the other woman was.

“Certainly. You’re a silvertongue, clearly,” Red said, poring over the book.

Emma blinked. “I’m a whatnow?”

Red looked up. “A silvertongue.”

“Yeah that doesn’t really clear anything up,” Emma responded. “My tongue is pink.”

With a slight smile, Red shook her head and leaned her elbows on the book. “It’s not meant to be taken literally. Silvertongues are people with the extraordinary ability to read a text and make the words come to life. So for example, you read this book, and we came to life.”

Emma had so many questions. But she just managed to dumbly say, “But I’ve been reading for all my life and never made anything come alive.”

Maybe not so dumbly, going by Red’s frown. “Never?”

“Never,” Emma said with a shrug.

“So every time you’ve read aloud, all was normal?” Red asked.

At that Emma faltered. “Well, not out loud. I read quietly to myself.”

“Why?”

Trying to remember that this woman came from a story set in a medieval world, Emma tried to explain it as best she could. “Basically people don’t really read out loud much here. We just read quietly. And I never really had anyone to read to when I was a kid. Foster care and all that...not a lot of fun times. Now that I think about it, I never read out loud until Henry asked me to tonight. Regina always did it, she would do the voices much better than I ever could. But when I talk...I don’t make anything happen.”

Red nodded slowly. “Well, Silvertongues only make things come to life if they are written down.”

Emma shook herself out of her stupor. “Anyway. If I am one of those silver tongued people-”

“Silvertongue,” Red corrected.

“Right. Can’t I just write something up and bring Regina back to me?” Emma theorized.

Red shook her head. “No, not unless you’re the author of this book.”

“I have to be a writer?” Emma asked.

“Not exactly. See, this world - my world - it exists because this author made it. For you to extract your wife from the book, and also return me to it, you need the author for that.”

Emma groaned. “Perfect. I had to read the one book that doesn’t have an author.”

Red flipped to the front of the book. “It doesn’t have an author?”

“Nope. And as far as I know, this is the only copy in existence.”

“That’s peculiar. Who gave it to you?” Red asked.

“Not a clue. It just showed up one day on the foster home’s doorstep when I was five or six, with the note on the inside cover of the book saying, ‘For Emma, so she remembers.’”

“Remember what?” was Red’s next question.

“Believe me, I’ve asked myself all of these questions, never reached an answer.”

“But there  _ must  _ be an answer. You have to find the author of the book if you hope to find your wife again.”

Emma sighed. “This book looks so old though. What are the chances this wizened author is still even alive?

Red had to concede to that. The leather cover was quite old. “I suppose we’ll just have to search really hard and as my good friend says: have hope.”

“Clearly you’re from a fairytale, ‘cause that’s corny as hell,” Emma sighed. When Red didn’t seem to understand a word that she had said, Emma added, “Look, this has been a long night for me, so I’m a little out of hope right now.”

“Well don’t worry. I’ll be your hope.”

Well hope went and drove off into the sunset four years ago, never to be heard from again. 

Emma was half convinced that she imagined it all. An imp and a wolf-woman showing up one night out of nothing and making her wife disappear sounded like a wild idea. The only other witness she had to corroborate that she was indeed sane was her son, who didn’t really remember anything from that night. Probably for the best, it would traumatize him otherwise.

A silvertongue, it sounded absurd. So she just resigned herself to a lonely existence with her son and her workshop. 

She restored old books for a living, most of her clients were old with priceless family treasures and first editions that they wanted to gift to a newer generation with a fresh coat of paint, so to speak.

While Red had been around, she had asked if Emma was doing this also to see if she could find another copy of the infamous book. Emma had never really thought about it, but it would be the best way to find another of the old book tome barring scanning thousands of auction websites - which Emma did still do in her spare time.

But, considering that Red went off with her copy of the book, it really destroyed all her hopes of ever getting her wife back.


	2. A wolf, an imp, and a writer barge into a house

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Making it a very awkward night for everyone involved

It would be later that day when Emma’s life would drastically change.

It began with Henry’s arrival, shrugging off his backpack and accepting Emma’s offer to join her for dinner.

Just as Emma was about to take the food out of the oven, the doorbell rang. Being busy at the time, Emma asked Henry to get it for her.

“Er, mom? I think this is for you,” Henry tersely called from the door.

Hearing the sound of her son’s voice, she didn’t even remember to shuck off her oven mitts before rushing to the door, wondering if Henry was in danger. There, she was met with the weirdest trio.

At her doorstep stood Red, much the same as the last time she saw her, still enjoying this world’s existence of very skimpy outfits, just now with an actual red streak on her straightened hair, the weird man from that fateful night, now wearing a three piece suit, hair a bit shorter and more tame. With them was nervous third woman that looked very distressed, her short brown hair clipped behind her, and wearing a bright summer dress that was quite frayed, which suggested that she had not planned for this excursion.

The imp welcomed himself into the house, and brought the two other women with him. It was then that Emma realized that Red and the other women had their wrists tied up and he was leading them.

Emma’s first instinct was to protect Henry, so she tried to usher him to stand behind her. “What the hell is going on?”

“Relax dearie. You are instrumental for my plan to work, and besides, I doubt your little oven mitts could do much against me,” the man said, a confident smirk on his face.

Oh how badly she wanted to punch him.

“And what plan is that?” Emma asked cautiously, not moving, just to remove her mitts and place them on a nearby table.

The man, who she now remembered was named Rumpelstiltskin, pointed to Red. “You see, your little friend was kind enough to lead me right to the author of my story, and I am going to get her,” - he pointed to the other woman - “To write us all back into the book, and you are going to read it.”

Emma gulped.

And Henry, wanting to be brave, said, “And why the hell would we go along with your plan?”

Rumpelstiltskin giggled at that. “Oh he is a feisty one! Well, I assume you want to meet your other mother?”

Emma didn’t even want to look at her son, just his sharp intake of breath was enough to gauge what was going through his mind.

“My other mother is dead,” he said slowly, walking out from behind his mom, and Emma wished she could pause time to just explain everything to him.

Like the fact that it was easier to tell him that Regina had died than it was to explain that she got sucked into a book, which Emma barely believed herself.

“Oh I’m sure we’ll find that she’s quite alive, but where is another question entirely. I’m sure my guards have taken excellent care of her in my dungeons,” he mused with a wicked smile on his face.

“Why you little-” Emma roared, rushing to him, fists raised.

She barely stopped a few inches away from him when she saw the gun he deftly pulled out and aimed resolutely. Not at her, but at Henry.

“Ah ah dearie. Unless you want to lose your son, you will step back.” His threat seemed real enough, and Emma was inclined to follow, so she just relaxed her hands and backed away.

“Good. Now, let’s get Lacey here settled, shall we? Maybe that wonderful room that we all first crossed paths?” he pleasantly suggested, as if they were deciding where to host their book club.

Emma led them back to the living room, a room she actively avoided if she could. She glanced at Henry, and she could just tell that he was beyond hurt and desolate.

“Henry, let me explain-” Emma began.

“Perhaps we should let Lacey work in peace, wouldn’t you agree?” Rumpelstiltskin interrupted.

Emma glared at him. “I need to talk to my son for a moment.”

The imp tutted. “There will be plenty of time when we get back home.”

“This is my home,” Henry muttered bitterly, making it clear that it wasn’t just with Emma that he was angry with.

But Rumpelstiltskin was not interested in his petty words. “And my home is in a book, a home I haven’t visited in six years, so I believe my needs precede yours, boy. Now, Emma is it? Fetch her a pen and some paper. And don’t think about doing anything stupid.”

And so Emma went to the side table, well within the imp’s sights, grabbing what he needed. Once finished, the imp pushed her to sit down between tense Red and an angry Henry on the couch. Emma felt the minutes crawl as they waited for this Lacey to write the passage that the imp wanted.

While they waited, Emma let her mind wander, otherwise she’d go stir crazy trying to think of how to talk to Henry. So she focused on this Lacey woman. How could she even be the author? The book was ancient and derelict, this woman couldn’t possibly be that old.

As the time passed, all they could hear were clock ticks, a pen scratching paper, and Rumpelstiltskin pacing. At one point, she began to click the pen over and over again before seemingly running the pen all over the sheet.

After what felt like hours, Lacey let out a breath. “I’m finished.”

She had a peculiar accent that Emma couldn’t quite place. Australian maybe? Did Red and the imp travel all the way down there to hunt down this author? Emma couldn’t fathom how he could have gotten them past airport security tied up like that.

Rumpelstiltskin scanned the passage to make sure that there was nothing in it that would insinuate he would be getting the short end of the stick. He paused at one part in one of the end pages. “Why do I feel like there are invisible scribbles on this page?”

Lacey looked apologetic. “The pen ran out of ink for a bit. I just clicked it for a bit to get it working again, doodling on the page to see if it would work, but I don’t feel quite right continuing after that. So I just left the passage like that, I figure that will be enough to get us all there.”

Emma barely believed that fib, but the imp bought it for some reason, and handed the paper to Emma. “Read.”

Taking the papers in her hand, Emma knew that he would grow suspicious if she tried to look at what secret message Lacey had written. 

So she began to read out loud, letting the words take over her mind.

“A long time had passed since we last saw our characters. Rumpelstiltskin had gone missing, but his regime still kept control of the land with loyal soldiers who held fast to their orders. Meanwhile Snow White’s army had suffered a blow by Red’s loss, and because of that, the werewolves were no longer allies in their fight for the Enchanted Forest.”

In another land, a land far away from that, with mechanical horses and magical screens, a special woman named Emma read a passage that would grant her the ability to find her long-lost wife again. She was joined by Rumpelstiltskin, who was desperate to return to his position of power, Red, who sorely missed her friends and family, a young boy named Henry who was currently resenting his mother for keeping a pretty large secret from him. Across from them was the author named Belle, who had some secrets of her own that no one in the room could possibly know. Like the fact that while she agreed to write this passage, she is also adding a few caveats.”

“What?” Rumpelstiltskin frowned, but it seemed time was moving much slower, because he couldn’t move fast enough to stop Emma from continuing to read.

“For one, their arrival to the Enchanted Forest will be right outside Snow White’s kingdom, barring for Rumpelstiltskin, who will be sent to the Endless Forest, without his powers-”

“NO!” Rumpelstiltskin yelled at hearing Emma’s words.

But the deed had been done.

The air around them felt weird. Like they were in two places at once, with a thick fog enveloping all of them so all they could see were each other.

Emma looked at Lacey - or was her name Belle? - and the other woman wordlessly urged her to continue.

“-And without a single tool to help him find his way. That would be his punishment for all of his misdeeds, while the newcomers would help Snow White reclaim the Enchanted Forest for good.”

And then a flash of light was the last thing Emma remembered seeing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aren't you glad you can read all of this without having to wait for the next chapter?


	3. The death of the author is taken to a whole new level

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Where nothing is as anyone remembers and there’s a lot of whiplash

When Emma came to, she just felt the hard ground beneath her, and a banging headache. She tried to sit up, but couldn’t figure out which way was up.

She finally managed to figure that out by cracking open her eyes and trying to find the sky. After groggily sitting up, she scanned for Henry, finding him a few feet from her.

Crawling, she made her way to him, her head feeling too heavy to cross this distance walking. She gently shook him awake.

“Henry? Kid? Wake up.”

“Mom?” Henry groused. He didn’t seem to be in a much better shape than her, and just clutched his head.

Emma’s foggy mind was slowly clearing, and she began sit up and look around her. They were in a forest clearing, lush green and calm, almost magical.

It had worked?

“Where are we?” Henry asked.

“I-” Emma faltered. “I think we’re inside the book. The Enchanted Forest.”

She looked to him, and from his face, she knew he was not exactly buying that one. “You mean to tell me that the deranged creep was telling the truth?”

“Yeah.” And then she realized what she had said. “Henry, please let me explain to you-”

She extended a hand towards him, but he swatted it away and turned away from her to sit up too.

“Henry, look at me.”

Nothing.

“Emma! Henry!” Emma’s head whipped around to hear Red making her way towards them, clearly having acclimatized much faster than them. “There you are.”

A groan from near them drew their attention, and they saw the new woman was just coming to.

Red immediately rushed to her, and Emma felt like she had to tell Henry the truth now or things would only get worse. “Look Henry, I’m sorry I lied to you, but would you have believed me if I had told you the truth? That your mom had gotten sucked into a book?”

“You could have tried,” Henry spat back.

Emma sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. “I barely believed it myself! The night she went missing...it was the worst night of my life. I just wanted to protect you.”

Henry scrambled to stand up and he glared at her. “Maybe you shouldn’t protect me.”

Now Emma felt that he was going to far and she stood up as well. “I am your mother, young man! You don’t get to talk to me like that.”

“I don’t care!” he roared back.

“Guys, keep it down,” Red cautioned, helping the author up. “We don’t know what kind of trouble we’ll attract…”

But neither of the two were paying attention to her.

“You should care! For all I know, she  _ could _ have been dead in this land! I didn’t want to give you false hope!” Emma was yelling back.

“So making me think she was dead for sure was better?”

“It was more realistic! I had no way of reaching her.”

“You still should have told me!”

Any further argument was stopped by an arrow whizzing past them and hitting a nearby tree.

They all whipped around to look at the source, and found a band of people on horses. All of them were wearing hoods. 

The person who had shot the arrow nocked another one and called out, “No one move!” 

It was woman. And Red, who had been standing near the side, walked out onto the clearing, and said, “I am Red, these are my friends.”

“Red?” the woman lowered her arrow and got down from her horse, lowering her hood.

“Snow!” Red’s face lit up at seeing her old friend. They embraced, laughing.

“You look so different!” Snow said once they parted, taking in her friend’s strange new clothes and different hairstyle.

“And you don’t look much older than I last saw you,” Red said. “Maybe a bit more tired.”

“A lot has happened since you last left,” Snow said. Then she looked towards Emma and Henry and Lacey. “And apparently you’ve been busy.”

“Right. These are my friends, First up is Lacey-” After a beat, Red turned to Lacey and asked, “Or is your name Belle?”

“Belle?” Snow asked, her voice catching.

Red seemed puzzled by Snow’s recognition of Lacey. “You know her?”

Lacey just shyly waved. “Sorry I’m a bit late.”

Snow’s surprise had faded to anger. “Eight years late! I thought you had perished! And what of my daughter? Where is she?”

Lacey pointed to Emma. “Right there. In one piece”

Emma for her part, was feeling her entire brain short circuit. “What?” was all she managed to blurt out.

“More secrets?” Henry accusingly asked.

“I swear to you I have no idea what they’re talking about,” Emma said.

Henry scoffed as if he didn’t believe her.

“Emma?” Snow had turned to her, and was looking as if her will to live had come back.

Emma blinked, not daring to say a word. Was this her  _ mother? _

Snow made her way up to her and looked deep into her eyes. Emma felt like she knew her from somewhere.

“Mom?” Emma squeaked, eyes shining with tears.

At that, Snow went in for a hug, and Emma let her, breathing that a scent that she didn’t even know how it was familiar.

“You came back,” she breathed.

Emma’s mind was reeling. So she just held fast to the woman - her mother - as hard as she could.

From the side, Henry could see that this moment was genuine. Perhaps he had been a bit hard on his mother, and he should try to see it from her side.

Soon enough, Snow let her go, but still kept her close to drink in every detail. “Come, we’d better get away from here and we can catch up.”

It seemed that then she noticed Henry, and said, “Oh I’m sorry, I don’t think I caught your name.”

“Henry,” Emma responded for him. “My son.”

Henry smiled awkwardly, not sure what to say, but like his mother, blurted out the first thing that came to his mind, “Hey grandma.”

That made Snow stumble back. But she quickly recuperated with a watery laugh. “It seems that I have missed a lot. Now come.”

They walked back towards the horses, and one of the horsemen said, “We don’t have enough horses to take everyone back, your Majesty.”

Snow waved him off. “We can walk to the camp, you and the troops go on ahead.”

Lancelot nodded. “And what of your horse?”

Snow turned to Henry and asked, “Would you like to ride a horse with Lancelot?”

Emma figured that Henry might scoff, claiming he’s not a kid anymore, but his face lit up and he immediately and eagerly agreed.

Seemed like her mom knew her way with kids. Emma cringed. Now that the surprise had worn off, she was trying to fight off the weirdness of thinking that this mere stranger with her familiar perfume was her mom. She figured she wanted to walk so they could talk. It made her want to get on a horse herself.

But as Lancelot began teaching Henry the basics and galloping off, she resigned herself to her fate.

“So…” Emma awkwardly began.

“I want to know everything about you,” Snow stated. “Spare nothing.”

Well obviously Emma wasn’t feeling like sharing everything. So she began telling her a truncated version about her life, about Henry and raising him, her job repairing old books, about Regina going missing. And then Red, Rumpelstiltskin and Lacey showing up.

“It was a bit of a wild ride,” Emma said with a wry smile. She pointed to Red, “I hadn’t seen her in years,” she then pointed to Lacey, “And I had no idea who she was.”

Snow was puzzled to say the least, and whipped around to face Lacey, “You didn’t raise her?”

Lacey cringed. “Not exactly. We got separated in the trip and I lost her, so she ended up living in the foster system as far as I know.”

“She what?! How do you lose a child?  _ My _ child! You promised me she would be safe from the imp!”

“And she is safe, isn’t she? Alive and in one piece!” Lacey retorted. In that moment, Emma caught a glimpse of who this woman really was: angry and defeated.

“But miserable! What kind of life did she live without a family of her own?” Snow responded, raising her voice as well.

“She had a book with all of your stories!” Lacey countered.

“I could care less! I wanted my child with me! Not living with my stories!”

At that point, Emma was beginning to doubt that they were going anywhere with the current discussion. So she decided to intervene, “I have a family. My wife Regina, and my son Henry. And right now, the only thing I want is to get Regina back.”

Snow knew what Emma was doing, and she felt a twinge of pride for her daughter. She seemed to have grown up into quite a level-headed and mature woman. Even if she wished she could have been the one to teach her all of that.

“Speaking of which,” Emma continued, “you haven’t come across any kind, beautiful brunettes lost trying to get back to my world, have you?”

“Alas no. But the past few years have been quite chaotic,” Snow said. Then she turned to Red, “Since you left three years ago, things have changed plenty.”

“Three?” Red repeated. “Snow, I’ve been gone for six years.”

Snow looked flabbergasted. Then she turned to Emma. “How old are you?”

“Thirty-six,” Emma responds, causing Snow to gasp and stumble. ‘Whoa, what age was I supposed to be?”

“Eighteen!” Snow said with a gasp. “I can’t believe-”

Emma snorted. “Yeah, not possible, Henry’s eleven, he couldn’t exist otherwise.”

“Time passes by differently between these two lands,” Lacey explained nonchalantly, as if the surprise was nothing new to her.

“I can tell,” Snow gritted.


	4. Everything you ever wanted to know about Silvertongues, but were too afraid to ask

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Plus a healthy dosage of teenage rebellion.

Red decided it was time she veered the topic back to calmer waters. “What exactly has happened since I left?”

Snow sighed. “The wolves are no longer on our side. They serve a new master, and he’s the Evil Queen’s right-hand.”

“Evil Queen?” Lacey repeated, sounding surprised.

Snow nodded. “Yes, she appeared not long after you left, probably an apprentice of the imp, who took the opportunity to snatch the kingdom for herself.”

Red made a face. “I’m imagining that she earned that moniker?”

“I made that moniker,” Snow said. “She....she cursed my beloved, David, to eternal slumber. Nothing has woken him up.”

Lacey was even more confused. “Not even the kiss of true love?”

“Not even that. She is a despicable and desperate monster, desperately searching for a Silvertongue, so I’d be careful if I were you, Belle.”

There was the slightest cringe at hearing her old name, but it disappeared as she said, “Not really, Emma is the one who should be careful.”

At Snow’s befuddled look, Lacey explained, “I transferred my powers to Emma.”

“Why would you that? That was not part of the plan! You put her in danger for no reason!” Snow was back to fuming, and she seemed to be ready to burst and smack Lacey.

Lacey rolled her eyes. “There is clearly so much you don’t know about Silvertongues, such as the fact that they cannot be an Author and a Silvertongue at the same time!”

That stopped Snow in her tracks.

“Now you understand? There’s very little magic in that land, and if I were to return us to this land, I’d need someone else to read my words. Not to mention I had to first instate myself as the author by writing the damn book with that cursed quill.”

Emma had absolutely no idea what was going on, and she voiced as much. “Er..in layman’s terms, what the hell did you do?”

“Sivlertongues are very powerful beings, as I’m sure you know,” Lacey said, to which Emma gave a vague nod-shrug. Finding that good enough, she continued, “But there is a limit to their power. They cannot write and then read their own words into existence. You need an Author for that.”

“Which would be you?” Emma asked.

“Correct. But those can come a dime a dozen, the harder to find are obviously the Silvertongues, and we had a long history of persecution, being used by oligarchs and anyone who thought themselves fortunate to control us. They would ask us to read immense riches, opulent castles, immense power, all the things that your stereotypical villain would want.

“But of course, once we were deemed unnecessary, we were killed. They didn’t want to risk us finding a way to exact our revenge by writing their riches and powers away. So Silvertongues are nearly extinct-”

“Extinct,” Snow corrected. “As far as anyone is aware, Lacey is the last Silvertongue.”

“In this case, me,” Emma added with a gulp.

“Indeed.” Snow said. “Which means that the Evil Queen is desperate to find you. Meaning we had best make our travel faster...as the wolves are more active at night, and they’re all in her service, they’d certainly find Emma and take her back to the Dark Kingdom.”

This was too much for Emma. “Wait hold up, what exactly does this queen want? I mean, maybe we can do an exchange, you know? I read something to life for her, and she can help me find Regina?”

Snow shook her head. “Not a chance! She will surely kill you! Look at what she did to David!”

Emma rolled her eyes. “Come on, this is crazy. I get Silvertongues are powerful, but we do have our pitfalls. You say she has magic, couldn’t she just make it rain money or whatever it is she wanted?”

“Magic comes with a price,” Snow recited, as if that explained everything.

With a scoff, Emma said, “Okay, because doing the Silvertongue schtick doesn’t have a price of its own.”

Lacey nodded. “The one for one rule. A living person for another person, a place for a place, and so on.”

Red piped up at that. “Speaking of, there’s something that’s always bothered me. The imp and I came out into that world, but only Regina went in?”

Emma grimaced. “Snuffles the cat was also a victim.”

Red made a face. “So I was the equivalent to a pet. Perfect.”

Lacey waved that off as if it wasn’t important. “Nonetheless, people have killed us out of pure fear. For the stupid and simple people, nothing is more frightening than magic. And Silvertongues are the sum of all that they fear. So I definitely wouldn’t recommend trying to seek out this Evil Queen. We best hunker down and find another way to find your wife.”

Emma nodded. “Okay, fine. Side note - I’m really curious at what you did back at the house...how did you get Rump-”

“Don’t say his name!” Snow interrupted.

“What, is it a Voldermort type of deal?” Emma scoffed, to the blank face of her mother. “Right, no Harry Potter.”

“Essentially worse than that,” Lacey said. “It gives him power, and even sometimes beckons him to whoever calls him.”

Emma nodded. “Gotcha. The imp it is. Anyway, how did you make sure that he didn’t see the extra passage?”

Lacey shrugged. “I may have added a caveat to my final reading: if I clicked a pen ten times, I’d be able to write anything without him seeing, a failsafe in case he came calling.”

“Smart,” Emma said. “So what exactly happened after you read us out of this world?”

“To be honest, I’m not sure myself. I had never tried to read someone, much less myself and a toddler, to another world. And I guess it’s harder than it looks. I ended up an entire state away from you. By the time I had heard the news about the mysterious baby that had appeared in the middle of the city, you had been placed in foster care. I had no ID nor anything that would allow me to adopt you. By the time I had gotten all of that straightened out, you had been adopted. And after that, I lost touch with you. I did one year find that you had been sent back to foster care, but by then I figured it was futile. I’d never be able to tell you the truth, and trying to get you to read us back home even less possible.”

“Kind glad you didn’t. I’d never have met Regina otherwise.” Emma smiled.

Lacey nodded. “So I made the book, hoping one day things would work out.”

“Yeah. Got to marry the woman of my dreams.”

Snow smiled at that. “Was it magical?”

Emma grinned, nostalgia flowing through her. “Yeah. Wonderful and magical and surreal. It was the first time I belonged. I took Regina’s name, after living so long under someone else’s name. It felt liberating.”

“I’m so sorry that you had to live such a lonely childhood, Emma,” Snow apologizes.

But Emma can’t bring herself to accept it, not yet. She had a family. Nevermind the circumstances, but she had parents who supposedly loved her. She tried to keep the bile from rising as she asked. “Why did you send me away?”

“The imp was closing in on you. For some reason, he was needing you for something, no one ever found out what it was, and we couldn’t risk him getting to you. So we sent Belle away to somewhere only she would know, and told her that in 8 years, she could come back. We knew we would miss many milestones, but we were expecting to be reunited with our ten year-old child, never had I imagined things would advance to the point I’d be meeting my daughter who is almost my age with a family and life of her own.”

Before Emma could answer, she heard hooves, and Lancelot approaching fast. “The boy has run off! He just took off!”

Emma paled. She didn’t even wait until Lancelot had fully finished stopping before she reached up and pulled him right off the saddle. “Sorry man, but I won’t lose my kid too. Which way did he go?”

Lancelot took a moment to get his bearings before pointing westward from where they were walking. “That way. Towards the Dark Kingdom.”

That was all Emma needed to hear. She spurned her new steed, thankful for the riding lessons that Regina had provided once upon a time.

The sun was setting, but Emma wouldn’t stop. Wolves be damned. She would find her child before she even thought about stopping.

An hour later, she found him on a slow canter.

“Henry Mills! Where do you think you’re going?” Emma roared, making her way to gallop beside him.

Henry groaned, trying to will his horse to go faster. “Oh come on! How did you find me?”

Emma instantly grabbed the reins from him and tied them to her own, ensuring that he wouldn’t run off. “I’m your mother, now explain yourself.”

“I want to find my mom,” Henry muttered.

“I do too!” Emma added.

“No you don’t! If you had, you’d have found her years ago, instead of letting me think she was dead!”

Emma sighed. “Look Henry, I’m sorry again I lied to you. But I made the decision I thought was best. When you become a dad, you’ll understand. Sometimes we want to protect our children as best as we can, even if they don’t see it.”

Henry just harrumphed.

“Look, I’ve told you about my life in foster care. If anything were to happen to me, there’d be no one to take care of you. You’d go into foster care, and I promised myself I’d never allow a child of mine to live through what I did.”

“Yeah, but look at how finding out about your own mom gutted you. And don’t tell me it didn’t. I can see it did.”

He did have a point.

“Alright, alright, fair enough. How about we call if a bad idea, and we end this topic?” Emma extended her hand, and after a beat, Henry shook on it.

“So are we going to find her?” Henry asked.

Emma nodded, knowing just who he was talking about. “I have no idea how to do it though.”

Henry hummed as he thought. “Does this place have any magical people-finding spells or potions?”

With a laugh, Emma shrugged. “Beats me kid. From what I hear, people are pretty afraid of magic.”

Henry snapped his fingers. “What about you reading us to her?”

“Someone needs to write it first. I don’t suppose you have some pen and paper?”

“Nope, my bag’s back home.” Emma then noticed how unprepared they were for this. Henry was still wearing his school uniform, and Emma was wearing sweatpants and a simple shirt. At least she had been wearing shoes. It’d have been awkward to traipse around barefoot.

They saw the approaching lights of a village, and Emma decided they could maybe rent a room.

“With what money?” Henry asked. He whipped out his wallet from his pocket. “I don’t suppose they take Visa?”

Emma glared at him. “That is for emergencies only.”

“If this doesn’t constitute as an emergency mom, I don’t know what would,” Henry countered.

Emma sighed. “My only other option had been to try and ask this Evil Queen lady for help. She wants my powers for something, and I need her to do something for me, we could do an exchange.”

Henry sounded ecstatic at the idea. “That’s a great idea mom, let’s go!”

So Emma untied their reins and they picked up the pace, approaching the castle just before nightfall.

“Alright, what’s the plan?” Henry asked as they dismounted and huddled under a tree behind a bush that offered them a good view of the castle without being seen.

“The plan is for you to wait here while I go talk to this queen.”

“What! Come on!”

“No ‘come on’s kid. She is dangerous, and I’m not putting you in harm’s way more than I already have. You are to wait here and, what does your watch say?”

Henry checked it. “6pm.”

“Great. If by 7 I am not back, you are to ride right back to Snow and tell her everything, am I clear?”

Reluctantly, Henry nodded.

“Wish me luck,” Emma said, before mounting her horse again and riding for the looming and imposing castle.


	5. That one historic time the Evil Queen didn’t throw a fireball at a guest

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And Emma’s deal-making skills could use some work.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh yes this is **the** chapter!
> 
> Enjoy!

As she approached the castle, a guard appeared. “Halt! Who goes there?”

“My name is Emma, I hear the queen is looking for a Silvertongue,” Emma stated.

“And what of it?” The guard asked.

“I am a Silvertongue and I want an audience with the queen,” Emma continues.

The guard began guffawing. “You are drunk lass. Go home before you get yourself hurt.”

Emma huffs and jumps down from her horse to stand in front of the guard. “I am not drunk. I want to speak to the queen, now.”

The guard gulps. No one just came to talk to the Queen.They were either taken here against their will, or they wanted to beg for mercy as they requested for something because they were desperate. But wanting to speak to the Queen of their own volition. That was a new one. “Alright lass, it’s your funeral. Follow me.”

So Emma lead her horse and followed the guard, who took her to the stable, and then towards a side door.

“Er, I wanted to talk to the Queen. Isn’t the throne room that way?” Emma didn’t know much, but she knew that the throne room would be in the biggest area of the castle, not through a dimly lit hallway.

“Before you can do that, you have to go through the Captain, Graham,” the guard explained.

So Emma followed along until they reached an office.

“All yours, lass.”

Emma entered, finding a man engrossed in his papers. 

“Captain Graham?”

At seeing her, his confusion was apparent. “Can I help you?”

“Er yes. The guard outside told me I had to talk to you before talking to the queen?” Emma explained.

The captain rolled his eyes. “Wilson you damn idiot. Anyway, what business have you with the Queen?”

“I am a Silvertongue, and I am offering my services to the queen, in exchange for a favour.”

Graham couldn’t stop a laugh from spilling out of his lips. “I’m sorry, you want to ask for a favour in order for the Queen to utilise your powers as a Silvertongue?”

“Yes,” Emma said.

“You are surely mad. Even if I did believe a word of it, the Queen would never agree to it.”

“Let me try. What have you got to lose?’

That was true enough. He scratched at his beard. “Fair enough. Let’s go.”

And so Emma followed behind Graham, through another set of winding hallways - any plans of escape are suddenly lost - and she’s eventually welcomed into the throne room.

“You can wait for the Queen here. Just as a tip, kneeling for her can raise your chances with her.”

Emma nodded. “Thanks.”

Graham chuckled as he left, seeing the woman kneel. The Queen would eat her alive.

And it wasn’t long before Emma heard the doors bang open, and “If you are wasting my time, I swear you will sorely regret it.”

That voice.

No.

It couldn’t be.

Emma whipped around and her jaw went slack. “Regina?” she tried to ask, but it came out more like a mewl.

The woman in front of her certainly looked like Regina, barring the much more dramatic makeup and clearly longer hair piled on top of her head. The burgundy dress that the Queen was wearing made Emma’s mouth dry up.

“Emma?” Recognition dawned on the other woman’s face, and Emma knew, just knew, that that was her Regina.

So she wasted no time in launching herself and colliding with Regina in a swift and fierce kiss.

In between kisses they both laughed, tears flowing freely, as well as whispering soft words that said nothing but meant everything to them.

Once they had finally finished expressing all that they had, Regina shakingly asked, “But what are you doing here? How did you get here?”

Emma smiled tiredly. “It’s a long story. And I’m not alone.”

Regina frowned. “What do you mean?”

“Henry’s here too. Well, outside the castle. It was a chore to get him to not follow me here-”

“Henry? Here?” Regina paled. “He must’ve grown these past few years.”

Emma chuckled. “Yeah, kid’s almost a teenager and-”

“Teenager?” Regina repeated.

“Yeah?” Emma frowned. “Regina, how many years have you been here?”

“Three years,” Regina immediately responded.

Emma cringed. “Right, time moves differently here.”

Regina swallowed. “How long has it been for you?”

“Six years.”

* * *

 

They decided that it’d be best to just bring Henry in first before continuing. After all, it was almost time for dinner, and Regina wouldn’t hear of them not joining her. Not that Emma was about to deny it. She didn’t want to waste a second without Regina. So she just told her where she had left their son and ran out to get him, though not before stealing another kiss.

Once she met up with Henry, she could barely contain her excitement.

“Did you find her?” Henry excitedly asked.

Emma nodded. “Guess what?”

“What?”

“Never mind, better that I show you, come on!”

If any of the guards were surprised at the joyfulness that the latest visitors were displaying, they kept it to themselves. They just watched as the woman and the boy rushed to the throne room.

Once Emma and Henry arrived at the throne room, they found Regina standing fiddling with her hands near her chest. It was a tell-tale sign that Emma had long ago learnt that meant that Regina was nervous as hell.

“Hello, Henry,” Regina greeted with a soft smile.

Henry looked at Emma, silently asking if this is who he thought it was.

At Emma’s nod, Henry wasted no time in launching himself right at Regina, hugging her tightly. “Hi mom.”

That was enough to release the waterworks again for Regina, wrapping her arms around her son. Her teenage son.

Emma waited for a few moments before joining, the first time in a long time that they had all been together.

But it wasn’t meant to last for long.

With a loud pop, and thick dark smoke, a figure materialized.

Emma whipped around and saw Rumpelstiltskin. Well, a more grotesque version of the imp she had met. He was also a lot more furious, his jaw set and his nostrils flaring.

“So sorry to break up the family reunion,” he mocked. “But I’d like my castle back.”

Regina only had half of an idea of what was going on, but she could feel his magic. It was dark and twisted. “You’ll leave right now.”

The imp cackled. “Oh the infamous Evil Queen! If the circumstances were different, I’d say it’s an honour to meet you, but believe me dearie, you best do as I say.”

Regina walked around to stand in front of her family while calling up a fireball in her hand and hurling it at the unwelcome visitor. “No.”

Rumpelstiltskin barely blocked the fireball, and he grit his teeth. “You forget. This is my castle.”

He snapped his fingers and suddenly every guard in the palace was seemingly bursting in through the doors, weapons at the ready.

“And those are my guards,” Regina tersely responded.

“I’d beg to differ. You see, I own their hearts. Literally.” He stepped aside revealing Graham behind him.

Graham stepped forward and thrust his sword into the air. As he made the graceful curve downwards, he yelled, “Get them!”

“Grab my arm, now!” Regina called back to Emma and Henry. When she felt two hands on either of her arms, she called forth her magic to take them far away from that place, just as an ambitious guard attempted to rush them.

When the deep purple smoke dissipated, they were in the forest, next to their horses.

“You have magic?!” Henry excitedly exclaimed when he let Regina’s arm go.

Regina turned around to face her family, and saw that Henry was looking like it had just hit him that he had just stepped into an actual fantasy story.

But Emma. Emma just looked bewildered, like she wasn’t sure what to make of all of this.

“Everyone okay?” Regina decided to ask.

Henry was yapping away, and Regina was worried someone would overhear. They weren’t that far away from the castle, and it wouldn’t be long before a patrolling guard found them.

It seemed Emma’s thoughts were running on the same wavelength for she said, “Kid, I’d keep a little bit quieter unless you want a repeat of a few minutes ago.”

“Oh, right, sorry.” He looked at the two horses. “So where to now?”

Regina sighed. “I don’t know. I’ve spent my time here mostly holed up in this castle. I don’t suppose you two know of anywhere we could go?”

Emma was about to shake her head when Henry piped up, “We could go back to the camp!”

“Camp?” Regina asked.

Emma sighed. “Yeah, a camp with Snow White and Lancelot.”

“Did you know that Snow White is my grandma?” Henry excitedly blurted out.

Regina frowned. Last she checked, her own mother was a piece of work that would be the farthest thing from Snow White, and Emma was an orphan so… “I’m not sure I follow.”

It was Emma who begrudgingly said, “Apparently I’m originally from this world. It’s a really long story, but Snow White is my mother.”

That made Regina cringe. “I see.”

“Yeah, and Lancelot told me all about the Evil Queen...I had no idea it’d be you,” Henry continued. “He made it seem like you were some crazed lady.”

That did nothing to quell Regina’s growing nausea.

Thankfully Emma had enough tack to say, “How about we just start riding away from here. Then we can figure out where we’re going.”

They were all in agreement, but, “How is mom going to ride?”

Regina grinned at Henry’s question, summoning her steed to her with her magic, as well as giving herself a change of clothes; her dress was not sensible for horse-riding, not like a pair of pants and light tunic. 

It wasn’t long before a dark brown horse appeared, with a long flowing mane. “This is Rocinante.”

“Cool!” Henry went up to pet the horse, but before long, they heard voices coming from the palace, so they all got on their horses and quickly fled the area.

Once they were surely out of bounds, they slowed down and Henry asked, “Why can’t we just use mom’s magic to teleport there?”

Regina shook her head. “Can’t teleport when we don’t know the destination.”

Henry frowned. “So why can’t we go to grandma’s camp? They didn’t seem that bad. I mean, I get why mom,” he jerked his thumb towards Regina, “wouldn’t want to go, but why not you mom?”

He was looking expectantly at Emma, and the latter just sighed and said, “It’s not that I don’t want to, it’s just...complicated. It’s hard to try and reconcile the fact that I had parents that wanted me, and if it wasn’t for Lacey…”

When Emma couldn’t finish, Regina just rode up beside her wife and took her hand. “We can figure this out together. And I can’t believe I’m saying this, but right now, I think our best choice would be to go to them. By ourselves we don’t have a chance if that imp returns. And besides, if that’s my mother in law, I better start making amends.”

That got Emma to laugh, and in turn it made Regina beam. Maybe things were looking up for her after all these years.


	6. Things were not looking up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Regina just needed a reset button for this world

Although they had a destination in mind, Regina couldn’t really teleport them anywhere. There were three humans and three horses. Regina had never attempted such a feat, and she didn’t want to wear herself out if her magic didn’t work.

So they just picked up the pace, and at the same time Emma and Henry caught Regina up on the entire story that had been happening since she had left.

Once they were finished, Regina was pensive.This explained everything and nothing at the same time. If anything, she had more questions than before.

But before she could ask for clarifications, Henry asked, “So, if you’re not some crazy witch queen hellbent on murdering everyone, how did you get the Evil Queen nickname?”

Emma was sure that Regina was judging her on her child-rearing ways, based on Henry’s abrupt and very direct way of asking questions that lacked any kind of finesse and consideration for the other person.

But nonetheless, Regina humoured his question. “It actually was given to me by Snow. I was still learning my powers, and I had gone to visit them, to see if we could form an alliance. Suffice it to say that their first impression was of me burning the curtains,” Henry couldn’t hold back his snicker at that, “Followed by my accidentally hitting the ever lovable Prince Charming with a sleeping curse.”

That immediately sobered Henry up.

“How does that happen?” Emma asked, more out of curiosity than anything.

“Well I had gone to hold out my hand in greeting - a move I later learn didn’t exist in this land - and he had moved in front of Snow, I suppose to protect her, and he brandished his sword. I thought he was aiming to throw the sword at me, so I got defensive, but my magic was one step ahead of me and it flew out of my hand, and he got hit. I was immediately banned, and any attempt to try to explain went unanswered and unheeded.” Regina sighed. “Not that I tried for long. Graham was quite helpful - he explained a lot of how this world worked, and how the Charmings weren’t worth much in terms of help. The castle I was staying in, originally that dastardly imp’s, had plenty of magic books. Of course, trying to find something on world-travelling was harder than expected, considering the guy has a lot of books on the matter. It had become harder and harder to find a way back home.”

Emma brought her horse closer to Regina’s and reached out to grab her hand. It was a small gesture that carried a lot of meaning for both women. Despite all the time that had passed, their love for one another had not waned. They would be there for one another as they sought to put the pieces back together.

Soon enough, they could see the lights of Snow’s camp.

Regina stopped her horse.

Emma frowned and stopped her horse too, as did Henry. 

“Everything okay, Regina?” Emma asked.

“Perhaps I should wait here...I don’t think your mother will be receptive to me showing up, no matter who I actually am,” Regina explained.

Emma was at a loss for words on how to convince Regina that she could come with her.

Thankfully Henry was a bit quicker. “Just put on one of those capes people here like to wear, those really large ones  that hide your entire face. Then we’ll just say you’re a friend. We can reveal it to them later...maybe after a few too many drinks.”

“Henry!” Both of his moms chided, and Henry just couldn’t bring himself to be remorseful. He just had a very large grin on his face.

The three of them broke into a fit of giggles, and Regina finally acquiesced and magicked a cape, pulling the hood up and over her head so it’d shroud her face.

Then they rode straight into pandemonium.

There was a real-life dragon, being corralled by Lancelot and his men...somewhere probably. Emma couldn’t see very well, as the dragon was breathing fire and it was making their horses antsy.

The other horses were also nervously trying to escape, but some of Snow’s guards were trying to calm them, while also keeping a watchful eye on Lancelot’s progress.

Emma jumped down from her horse and ran to where her mother was tending to some wounded on the other side of the camp.

“What happened?”

“Lacey did.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dun dun duuun! Lacey has got her own agenda!


	7. A Belle by any other name would act as treacherous

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Spite feeds hatred to make an unhealthy concoction under the guise of justice

It would be another hour after they finally managed to get the dragon knocked out.

Mostly due to Regina. 

Her disguise had been a moot point, and Snow was now staring at her nemesis for the past couple of years with a barely disguised fear.

Then again, she had saved their hides by whipping up a spell to get the dragon to fall asleep. The hard part had been trying to aim it at the volatile dragon’s nostrils.

“So this is the Regina you were searching for?” Snow finally asked.

Emma nodded, pulling Regina closer to her. Regina let herself burrow deeper into Emma’s arms.

They were currently sitting around the fire along with Red. It was late, Henry was asleep, and most of the guards had left to get their wounded some medical attention back in Snow’s kingdom.

A handful were left to guard the campsite. Allowing Snow to focus on digesting this new information.

Or trying to.

“And you are the same Regina who barged into my castle those years ago?” Snow turned to Regina.

Regina nodded. “Though I beg to differ on the barging. I respectfully asked for a meeting which you granted.”

Snow scoffed. “You burned my curtains and cursed my husband!”

“I was somewhat overwhelmed!” Regina hissed, sitting up and clenching her teeth.

“You could’ve apologized!” Snow retorted.

“I tried! But you wouldn’t listen, and instead branded me the name of Evil Queen. Certainly a move worthy of the paragon of peace in this land.” Regina sneered and leant back once again, crossing her arms.

Red cleared her throat. “I may not know much, but it does seem like she is trying to make amends, Snow. And she is Emma’s long-lost wife.”

Snow whipped around to face her friend as if she had grown another head. “You really have become tame all those years in this other land.”

“Probably,” Red shrugged.

“Okay, we can figure that out later. Now we have to find Lacey. What exactly happened?” Emma interjected.

Snow sighed. “It seems that Lacey wasn’t as benevolent as we believed. She is angry and has a grudge to work out.”

* * *

 

_ When they had finally reached their camp, they all went to sit by the fire pit. Although it was still daylight, the wood stumps around provided ample relief. _

_ “So Belle- Lacey,” Snow quickly corrected at the glare from the other woman, “I’m still confused by what happened.” _

_ Lacey tilted her head. “What do you mean? Time passes differently in that world, and I was separated from Emma for a long time. What else is there to get?” _

_ Snow nodded. “Right, but you clearly did find her, you managed to get the book to her. So why didn’t you get her back?” _

_ Shifting around her stump, Lacey said, “I told you. The system is complicated, and Emma was already weary. She wouldn’t have trusted me.” _

_ Red piped up. “Still doesn’t explain why it seems you didn’t even try.” _

_ Lacey looked completely miffed. “Do you really not trust me?” _

_ “Well you did keep my daughter in a strange land for over three decades!” Snow exclaimed. _

_ “And I repeat that it wasn’t my fault!” Lacey was quick to defend herself. _

_ “Okay, say for a second all of that is true,” Red said, bringing her hands up. “Why transfer your powers to Emma. How do you benefit from it?” _

_ Lacey let out a humourless laugh. “Great, now I am the enemy. Just as I figured. All any of you ever cared about were my powers. Rumple was right.” _

_ “Rump- what does the imp have to do with any of this?” Red asked. _

_ Shooting up from her seat, Lacey began pacing. “Many years ago, I met him. He showed me the truth. And I took it all into my hands.” _

_ Snow was getting worried. “Belle, what did you do?” _

_ “My name is Lacey, you puffed up dandelion!” Bringing her her forefinger and thumb in a circle to her mouth, she blew a whistle. _

_ At first nothing happened. _

_ And then a huge roar reverberated all around the campsite. _

* * *

 

“And you know the rest.” Snow looked away and sighed.

Emma was finding it hard to swallow. “So Lacey...purposefully did this? She’s working for him?”

Red nodded. “It appears so.”

“It all makes sense,” Snow muttered. “She came to us one night, claimed she had reliable information that the imp was trying to use Emma for something. We believed her...she was a Silvertongue. Why would she lie to us, knowing the kind of things the imp had done to her kind? She had told us she had escaped from his clutches by teaming up with the other captured Silvertongues and reading her freedom.”

* * *

 

_ “Please, you have to believe me,” the woman in front of them looked like she had been through hell, and both Snow and Charming had taken pity on her. _

_ “Let’s eat, then you can tell us everything,” Charming said, holding his arm out to help their guest walk. “What’s your name?” _

_ “Belle, your Majesty,” the woman said, taking the proffered arm and limping alongside the strong monarch, while Snow put a comforting arm around Belle’s other shoulder. _

_ Once she had consumed sufficient food for a small army, she got to explaining. “I was part of a group of Silvertongues captured by the imp. My friends and I concocted a plan. We would etch out words to escape. Our elders volunteered to stay behind, knowing they’d just slow us down.” _

_ “And where are the others?” Charming asked, looking around as if he just wasn’t seeing them. _

_ Belle shook her head. “The imp caught on to our plans. He burst in just as I was speaking. I waited for a few days, but no one came. But I knew I had to see your Majesties.” _

_ Snow looked alarmed. “Why? You said you had pertinent information?” _

_ “Yes. Your child.” _

_ Instinctively, Snow put her hand to her chest and Charming put his hand on his sword. _

_ Continuing, Belle explained, “The imp believes that your child, conceived out of the truest love, could be useful for him. He plans to use her for something. You have to protect her. He would be unstoppable, and that would be a nightmare for all of us.” _

_ Both monarchs agreed. “But what can we do? Do you have any idea what he could want with her?” _

_ Here Belle looked lost. “I have no idea. We just overheard bits and pieces from his attempts to interrogate us.” _

_ Snow looked solemnly at her husband. “We have to get her out of here.” _

_ Charming nodded. “We could take her to my mother’s-” _

_ “No!” Belle interrupted. When her hosts looked at her puzzled, she added, “You don’t understand. His reach is beyond anything you can imagine. We need to take her where he can’t follow.” _

_ “Where?” Snow was desperate for an answer. _

_ Belle looked timid as she suggested, “We have heard of a land unlike anything else. It is a land where magic doesn’t exist. She could be taken there.” _

_ “And uproot our entire lives?” Snow’s voice betrayed how torn she felt. _

_ “No, you two would have to part ways with her,” Belle said. _

_ “Out of the question!” Charming thundered. _

_ “Please listen to me!” Belle pleaded. “You know that that monster would do anything to get what he wants. So we remove the thing he wants the most, your child. And then in a couple of years, we can return, safe from harm, and hopefully to a land where the imp has been defeated. And you can continue with your child, not a fear in the world.” _

_ It did sound tempting. But, “How long would we be talking about?” _

_ Belle shrugged. “Perhaps a decade to be on the safe side.” _

_ “Once again, not a chance,” Charming countered. _

_ “Then eight years. If you don’t wait long enough, he will bide his time. You must act now. This is for the good of your child.” _

_ Both of the monarchs knew that. “But it’s our child, and sending her away by herself for so many years to a land we have no idea of…” _

_ “She wouldn’t be alone. I’d go with her,” Belle added. “I’d protect her. I’d make sure to teach her about you, keep the memory of you alive, so that when we return when the time is right, she will reintegrate without a problem. It’ll be like a really long vacation for her.” _

* * *

 

“We stupidly believed her, and you had immediately taken to her, so we figured we had put you in good hands. If we had known…” Snow broke down crying.

Emma excused herself to Regina and went to hug her mother in a fairly emotional moment. Knowing what had truly happened really put some perspective on her bitterness for being left alone for her childhood.

“I am so sorry Emma, I hope you’ll be able to forgive us,” Snow tearfully said.

Not trusting her voice, Emma just nodded.

Feeling somewhat out of place, Regina turned to Red. “Emma mentioned you and Lacey had been captured by the imp? Was Lacey faking it?”

Red hummed. “If I had to guess, I’d say she was working by herself. Maybe the imp had shown her the truth and she had actually escaped under the guise of a partnership, but really she had her own motives.”

“Like making me the last Silvertongue,” Emma muttered.

Regina nodded solemnly. “And with Lacey our sole ticket out of here…”

Snow frowned. “Hang on, couldn’t we just create another author? We can just have Emma read another author into existence.”

Red shook her head. “I’m fairly certain that Lacey has created some meta rules with that book of hers. She wrote it with a special quill.”

“And where is that quill?” Regina asked.

“Probably in our world,” Emma said. “So I guess that settles it. We have to find Lacey and convince her that whatever she’s about to do is a fool’s errand.”

“Well, we know what she is about to do,” Red said. “She’s going to kill the imp.”


	8. The Race for The End

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everything comes to a head and stances are taken.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just in case: warning for deaths

“Kill him?” Emma spluttered. “How is she planning on doing that?”

Red shrugged. “Beats me.”

“Then we absolutely have to stop her. If she dies, we can’t get out of here,” Emma said.

Snow timidly piped up, “Would that be so bad? I mean, I would love to get to know you...and maybe make amends with Regina?”

Regina looked like a deer caught in the headlights. She cleared her throat and said, “That would be nice. And it’d also give me time to reverse the spell on your husband.”

Emma knew that Regina was being diplomatic for her and Henry’s sake. She was still hurting from being branded the Evil Queen, and it’s take a lot more than a bonding session to fix that. “But our going back home doesn’t have to be forever, we can figure out a way to come back on weekends.”

That appeased Snow, but time was of the essence.

They decided that Emma and Regina would have the best chance of getting through to Lacey.

“Lacey doesn’t even know Regina, and I think she feels guilty of embroiling Emma in all of this,” Red said.

They wouldn’t take Henry because of the danger it posed.

When they woke him up before leaving, he was less than receptive of the situation.

“Come on! I went with you to meet the supposed Evil Queen!” Henry whined.

Before Regina could reproach Emma, she said, “I will remind you that you ran away and I went out to find you.”

He was still sulking, so Regina offered, “Perhaps you can find a spell or potion that I can concoct to help your grandfather?”

That seemed to enthuse Henry, so he nodded eagerly. Regina conjured up a few lengthy tomes - “There are some things I kept hidden away from everyone just in case it all went to hell, seems like it was a smart move,” - and instructed him to dogear any pages of interest.

That caused the book restorer in Emma to have a conniption. “Betrayed by my own wife.”

Regina rolled her eyes and stuck out her tongue at Emma, causing the latter to break out in laughter.

“Now come on, we have to get going,” Regina said, kissing Henry’s forehead.

Emma nodded, ruffling Henry’s hair, and as they were about to leave, Henry said, “Come back, okay?”

“We will, Henry,” Emma said.

“We promise,” Regina reassured him.

* * *

 

They decided that magic would be the fastest way to reach a woman who had a few hours ahead of them, and a horse.

Although they couldn’t specifically pinpoint, they could travel as close as they could towards the castle that used to be Regina’s, and wait for her.

And that’s what they did. They managed to reach just outside the outskirts of the castle, and found a secluded area that provided them with a good advantage of the path from the forest.

While waiting, they filled each other in on their respective lives.

Regina spoke about learning her magic from the various wolves in Graham’s command, as well as using her power to get what she needed. It was a lonely life, but it did the trick for survival. She also explained about her attempts to find a way back home, and of trying to see if any Silvertongues were still around, though it seemed that there were no more.

Meanwhile Emma spoke of the little things about Henry. Regina had already heard about the overarching story regarding their misadventures with Red and the rest of their merry band of fairytales. But she desperately wanted to hear more about her so grown-up son.

“Regina, he’s still a teenager, it’s not a matter of giving me a heart attack quite yet.”

“But I missed so much in six years! At least tell me he hasn’t dated yet,” Regina said. “I’d hate to miss that.”

Emma shook her head. “No worries, you can still experience that.”

The sound of hooves stopped their conversation.

Just as expected, Lacey was riding fast.

Much to Regina’s disapproval, Emma walked out to stand in the middle of the road. Regina would magically move Emma out of the way if need be, but why her wife had to put herself in danger like that was beyond her.

Thankfully, Lacey had enough sense to stop her horse.

“Get out the way Emma,” Lacey ordered.

“No. I get that you’re angry. You’ve been betrayed and lied to, but think about something other than yourself for a change. You’re heading into a suicide mission! And you’d be stranding us all here.”

Lacey scoffed.

“Think about it! Without you, my family can’t leave. You’re the author. You brought us here, and you can’t just not give us a way out.”

That got Lacey to show a bit of remorse. “I can’t stop now Emma. I have to do this. The imp must die.”

“Sure, just go and screw my life over once again,” Emma spitefully spat.

Lacey sighed and got off her horse. “I am sorry for how things worked out. But I promise you, I will make all of this right.”

She pushed through past Emma, heading towards the castle. But Emma wasn’t going to let this go so easily. So she began following a few steps behind.

“Wait, stop!” Regina couldn’t stop herself. She had been intending to stay quiet, but they were heading into Rumpelstiltskin’s castle, and there was no way of knowing what could be awaiting them.

Lacey frowned. “Who is she?”

“My wife. And the infamous Evil Queen, so if I were you, I’d listen to her.” Emma was flying by the seat of her pants, and while she knew that Regina didn’t particularly enjoy the monicker, if it helped them to get through Lacey, she would use it to their advantage.

“No one can stop me,” Lacey muttered, continuing, dragging her horse along towards the looming castle. “But go ahead, follow me if you’re so inclined and stubborn.”

Emma stomped after her, and Regina trailed last.

Until they crossed the threshold of the palace.

Emma, the horse, and Lacey all passed by without a problem, but Regina found herself being held back by a seemingly invisible barrier.

Regina growled, and tried to thrust a fireball. It just ricocheted and went flying upwards.

At hearing Regina’s frustration, Emma turned, to see Regina trying to magic herself inside. She jogged back to Regina and said, “Hey, don’t worry, I’ve got this.”

“Emma, please don’t leave, I can’t lose you again,” Regina tearfully responded.

“You won’t lose me, I’ll be back soon, I just have to get Lacey to stop before she gets herself killed.

And as much as it pained her to do so, she let Emma go.

* * *

 

_ “You’re different than the others.” _

_ The room was dank and smelled musty. There were no windows, and the only furniture was a table and a chair. The chair Belle was currently sitting on. _

_ In front of her, the infamous Rumpelstiltskin was pacing, the table the only thing separating them. _

_ “And why do you say that?” Belle didn’t have much in the realm of courage, but she would be damned if she’d let this imp get to her. _

_ “Because you have a fire. You will do great things, I know that much,” the imp said, finally facing her and fixing her with a calculating gaze. _

_ Belle scoffed. “Yeah, except you’ll be killing me before that happens, right?” _

_ “To the contrary. I won’t. I want for us to work together,” he offered. _

_ “Together? You have killed dozens of my people, and you have a dozen more locked up with me. Why do you think I’d work with you?” _

_ “Like I said, you have something special. The other Silvertongues are too scared to do what’s necessary.” When Belle didn’t seem too impressed, he added, “Oh and there’s the little caveat of me sparing your life.” _

_ That got Belle to sit up a bit straighter. “Go on?” _

_ “My plan is simple…” Rumpelstiltskin went on to explain what he had in mind. He would be using a child of true love to open their world up for inter-world travelling. _

_ “And how would I fit in?” Belle asked. _

_ “You will have to steal the child for me. She is the child of the White Kingdom’s monarchs. Emma is her name. I will let you go so you can go to them, spin a wild story, and acquire the child. Then, you will bring her to me.” _

_ Not one to have the wool pulled over her eyes so easily, she said, “And then what? You’ll kill me?” _

_ The imp shook his head. “No. You will live, and witness my new world.” _

_ Belle held her hand out. “Promise me. Once I deliver the girl to you, you will not be able to harm or kill me. Not without equal harm on yourself.” _

_ Rumpelstiltskin’s lips twitched. “You are something else. But very well.” _

_ And he shook her hand. _

* * *

 

Lacey was sure that her heart was about to beat out of her chest. She had taken quite a gamble, but it was going to work out. She knew it.

She felt Emma catch up to her again, and there were so many things she wanted to say. Mainly apologize.

And tell her the truth of what had really happened.

It hadn’t been her feat of Emma’s scepticism, or the system working against her that had stopped her from taking Emma in.

She had been afraid of her own parenting skills. Or lack thereof.

A Silvertongue’s life was a lonely one. After she transferred her powers to Emma and they made it to the other world, Belle had shedded her old life. She had become Lacey, and tiny Emma was so fragile and worried about this strange new world.

So what did she do?

She took Emma in her arms, took her to the nearest establishment - an old diner off the side of a highway - and said that she found this child alone in the woods.

And she left.

But then the guilt settled in, and when she tried to find Emma again, she couldn’t. So she wrote a book, for when she did find Emma.

The only problem was, when she did find Emma, she couldn’t bring herself to face the girl whose life she had screwed over. But it was all for the best for her. A life without Silvertongues and magic and any nonsense to leave her jaded and lonely.

But she still kept tabs on her. Every now and then she’d search for Emma, and she found her just in time for her high school graduation, for her first day of college, her marriage to Regina, and the moving day for their house.

It might’ve seemed creepy if anyone had figured it out, but she felt responsible to make sure Emma was okay. She had screwed everyone else from their deals: Rumpelstiltskin, Snow and Charming; she’d be damned if she let anything happen to Emma.

But it seemed she didn’t do Emma any favours. Especially when the imp showed up at her door in the other world and forced her at gunpoint to do his bidding.

With a loud pop and a cloud of dark smoke, the other subject of her thoughts had appeared in front of her.

“Well then, it seems like you just saved me quite a bit of time dearie. You brought yourself and Emma to me. Now we can begin.”

Emma spoke up. “Begin what?”

“My final plan. A portal for inter-world travelling. Allowing me to spread my domain. Total domination.”

“And what makes you think we’ll agree to do anything you say?” Emma asked.

The imp made a show of seeming like she had actually asked a hard question. “Let’s see. I have your wife within my sight, so I’m sure you’ll cave in and read. As for the lovely Belle..” the latter shuddered at that, “well she’ll do anything provided it protects you. You see, she has a soft spot for you. Despite abandoning you, she does have a bit of a maternal bond for your well-being.

“So if I were to do this,” he snapped his fingers and the same gun he had used at Emma’s home materialized. He aimed it, and two voices chorused “NO!”

Regina was frozen to her spot, literally. A crossbow was magically aimed at her heart, and she watched with trepidation as her wife was suddenly in the line of fire of the imp’s gun.

Lacey stepped in between Emma and the imp, her hands up. “I’ll do it.”

Rumpelstiltskin grinned. “Exactly what I expected.”

He magicked a writing desk, a stool, some parchment and a quill to her side. “I’m sure you know what to do. And no funny business. There are no pens to click and sneak secret messages.”

And so Lacey began to write. She wrote fast, but with purpose, while also reaching into her sleeve and pulling out another piece of parchment paper. Thankfully Emma was keeping him occupied from having him check.

“So this is it? Your grand plan? You take over all the worlds? For what? To make up for your fragile ego?”

“Careful. I may need you alive, but it doesn’t mean I can’t shoot another body part to make sure you get the message,” the imp waved his gun to her legs and arms.

Emma shrugged. “Okay, no ego talk. But you don’t own this world, wouldn’t it make sense to first take over this world, then the next ones?”

“I don’t need to take over the world. The White Kingdom are a bunch of cowards, they would never be able to defeat me. Everyone else fears speaking my name, and I have immeasurable power. I have already won.”

“But you don’t have power in my world. How do you plan on taking over it?”

“Maybe you’ve forgotten, but I spent six years there. I have planted my seeds, and I’ll return to see them come into fruition.”

Lacey suddenly exclaimed, “I’m finished!”

“Good. Give it to me. And no funny business.”

Lacey handed the parchment paper to the imp. He glanced at the words, and deemed it passable. He extended the sheet to Emma. “Read it.”

And Emma took it.

Before Emma could even glance at the first sentence, Rumpelstiltskin’s lightning fast moves had him plunging his hand deep into Lacey’s chest and extracting her heart.

Emma was sure she was going to be sick.

The pulsating red organ with black spots looked so weird in the imp’s hand. “Just some extra security in case you decide to try something. Now dearie, get to reading.”

With shaking hands, Emma took a deep breath.

“In a world unlike any other, a powerful imp was on the cusp of having everything he ever wanted. Total domination. With just a few words, a portal would be created that would allow the traveller to go to any world they so wished. It would be a large, almost round self-powered portal that would never wane or disappear. It would appear just a few feet from where a tense scene was playing out, where three women were on the verge of losing their lives. But everything would work out in the end.”

Rumpelstiltskin scoffed. “Wishful thinking on your part.”

No sooner had he said that, and a portal just like Emma had described appeared.

With an almost manic gleam in his eyes, he eyed the portal. But before he could do that…”I do thank you all for your services, but I no longer have any uses for any of you.”

So he began to squeeze Lacey’s heart.

Lacey screamed out, dropping to her knees. Emma wanted to try to stop it, but the imp’s steady hand with the gun aimed right at her stopped her in her tracks.

But then something unexpected happened.

Lacey began to laugh.

Rumpelstiltskin didn’t stop squeezing as he demanded, “What the hell is so funny?”

“I outsmarted the great Rumpelstiltskin. I bided my time, and now you will perish.” Turning to Emma, she said, “I’m sorry Emma, I wish I could have done so much more for you. I hope one day you will forgive me.”

With a final squeeze, Lacey’s heart turned to dust, and she fell backwards on her knees with a finality.

As the imp shook his hand from all the dust, he felt there was something wrong.

And in that moment, he recalled a deal he had made.  _ “Promise me. Once I deliver the girl to you, you will not be able to harm or kill me. Not without equal harm on yourself.” _

He clutched at his chest. The gun dropped from his hand, and he felt his breath catch. She had just delivered Emma to him.

He dropped to his knees, trying to wildly think of a way to stop this.

But his mind just drew a giant blank.

And in his final moments, he could just longingly stare at the portal, before turning to face Emma.

The woman looked terrified of what was happening, and he felt his magic grow weaker that the crossbow aimed at the brunette had disappeared, and she had broken through to take Emma in her arms.

They were speaking, but he couldn’t hear them. He just saw and heard his greatest regrets, the voices of his many victims pleading for their lives.

And then, silence.


	9. A New Beginning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A story is never truly finished

“What the hell did I just witness?” Emma asked, appalled.

“Essentially, he crushed her heart and killed her. It’s an extreme method of murdering someone here,” Regina explained, holding Emma close. She felt that her wife was very tense, but was a bit lost on how to comfort her. 

“But why did he die? She didn’t even touch him. She just said she outsmarted him.”

Regina could only guess. “Perhaps she had made a deal with him that made sure he couldn’t kill her without killing himself.”

She’d turn out to be pretty spot on, particularly when Regina spotted that there was another piece of paper still on the writing desk, filled with text. She pointed it out to Emma, who shakingly walked up and picked the sheet up.

Regina let her wife read it in private.

_ Dear Emma, _

_ I hope my plan worked, otherwise I’ll be telling you this in person beyond the veil. If I haven’t already said this: I am sorry. _

_ I was a coward and I should have been better for you. After we left this land, I felt like maybe we had an out. A way to start a new life. But it’d never have been so simple. I had given you my powers selfishly.  _

_ I thought that giving you my powers I would be able to take you and be a mother to you. But I panicked. _

_ Because I’m broken. I have lived through a hell that I hope you never have to. _

_ I didn’t lose you, I left you. _

_ And I can never forgive myself for it. I did make it for a few of your later accomplishments, and I sincerely hope that you will now be able to live a fulfilling life, without having to search for Regina, or to feel resentful due to my mistakes. _

_ And you needn’t worry about the imp coming back. I made a deal with him many years ago: I bring you to him, and he can’t kill or harm me without doing the same to himself. _

_ It was a bargain as to whether you’d arrive in time, and whether he’d have forgotten about it, but it hopefully did work. _

_ I know I won’t be missed, so I’m not scared of dying. All that I hope is for my sacrifice to finally ends the dark era of Silvertongues being used for nefarious purposes. _

_ And because I am trying to make amends: _

Despite her death, the world needed an author. Which is why Henry, Emma’s young son, would be gifted with the authorship of the story. His enthusiasm and curiosity will usher in a new era to this world.

_ And, Emma, never forget: you are loved. I could see it in Regina’s eyes during the wedding reception, and I know she has made you a very happy woman.  _

_ Please know, your parents just wanted to protect you. Don’t hold it against them for my deception. _

_ Lastly, your son does trust you and care for you. With both of his mothers, he will feel like the luckiest child in the world, and he will one day look back on this with amusement. _

_ To your long life. _

_ Lacey _

* * *

 

By the time they made it back to the camp, only a handful of guards were there. They informed Emma and Regina that everyone else had returned to the White Kingdom castle.

And when they got there, they were nearly tackled by Henry who, immediately after colliding with them, told them that he had found a way to reverse the spell on his grandpa!

He was very excited, and they were excited for him. They promised they’d talk about it later, but first they had things to discuss with Snow, Red, and Lancelot.

“What happened?” Snow anxiously asked as they arrived in the war room. The important part was that her daughter and daughter-in-law were okay. They could figure out the rest.

And so Emma and Regina took turns to explain, ending with showing the letter that Lacey had written. Emma and Regina figured that Lacey had written this before, because there was no time for her to have done it while they were in their little hostage situation with the imp.

Snow wanted to be angry, but she knew that Lacey had had a rough life, at least she had done what no one else had managed to do.

“What do we do with the portal?” Lancelot asked.

“We keep it open,” Emma suggested. When she got more than one peculiar look, she elaborated. “Look, I know that he wanted to dominate the world, but I’m sure that there are people that want to explore and discover. Maybe even find the love of their life. We of course need to have some sort of security barrier, just in case someone wants to take advantage.

“Besides, you guys need a way to visit Regina and I,” Emma grinned as she finished.

So it was decided. The White and Dark kingdoms had officially drafted a treaty unifying both kingdoms, dissolving their borders. Lancelot was in charge of the security for the portal, and Regina would be returning the hearts to all of the guards in her castle. 

She was sickened by the thought that she had lived there without noticing that everyone was emotionless due to the lack of their hearts, not because they were in the Dark Kingdom and they were trying to be method.

Meanwhile, Henry, with his new author powers, drafted a cure for Charming, and had Emma read it, to a great success.

There was a great party that lasted for a week.

Eventually, Regina and Emma just wanted to go back home. Henry was also missing his home, his friends, and his video games.

Snow and Charming were both eager to visit, so the first time, they all went together.

And what a trip it was. Henry would be laughing himself silly as his grandparents were introduced to the 21st century inventions.

What truly puzzled them was the smart refrigerator. They were convinced they had tiny fairies stuffed behind the screens.

“This technology is just a fancy term for a cluster of fairies,” Charming concluded, and wouldn’t hear otherwise.

Emma and Regina, at Snow’s behest, got married again, but in her world. Henry was ecstatic at being able to witness his moms’ union.

And as they made their vows, they felt this profound sense of fulfillment. They beat the odds, and found each other again, and now, nothing could separate them.

And for the rest of their lives, nothing ever did.

**Author's Note:**

> Fin!
> 
> For those interested, I've also participated in the reverse bang writing Caught Out, it's an M rated fic with plenty of hijinks, both on and off the bedroom. It hasn't been released yet, so keep an eye out.
> 
> Otherwise, I hope this was an enjoyable ride for everyone! I'd love to hear what you think!
> 
> Also! Please go support all the other SQSN writers and artists! They spent months creating the fics and art you're currently enjoying, and it'll mean the world to them if you'd give them your support via comments.
> 
> And as an added incentive, the SQSupernova team's got a contest for commenters, and you can find out more info and the rules [here](http://sqsupernova.tumblr.com/post/177527168129/the-swan-queen-supernova-comments-contest-returns).


End file.
